Chapter 56
56
THE KASSIOPI PANEGYRI, KASSIOPI HARBOUR
Night had fallen and the harbour was an absolute thriving mass of song and dance and the air was filled with the succulent scent of sizzling meat and sweet syrupy doughnuts. It was hot and humid and hectic and Molly had had a few too many glasses of very dry piney-tasting wine, as had her mum.
‘Are you OK, Mum?’ Molly asked her as she watched Janette get just a little bit quieter with her chat, eyes on the boats on the water and not the dancers.
‘Yes, sweetheart, I’m fine.’
Molly pulled her white plastic chair a little closer and slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her. ‘You know it’s OK to feel emotional, right? It’s been a big day and it was saying goodbye to someone you really cared about.’
‘Yes,’ Janette said, a little stiffly, nodding.
‘Mum, I know you, remember? You’ve been very together today, helping Angeliki and Maria and Magdalena with glasses for this and tablecloths for that and watching them all cry all over the place and you’ve held it all in.’
Janette tightened her lips like, if she didn’t, a dam would burst. ‘Vaggelis was part of their family, not mine and I still feel all this terrible guilt about what Maud did to that man, telling him something that wasn’t true for her own benefit and taking money for us. If I had known where that had come from?—’
‘But that isn’t your fault. And it doesn’t mean you can’t mourn him, Mum.’
‘I don’t think Angeliki feels like that. She hasn’t looked at me the same way since we told her that Vaggelis wasn’t your father,’ Janette said, sniffing back emotion.
And Molly had said nothing to her mum about Vaggelis being Christos’s father. It wasn’t her secret to tell and she had no idea how Christos and his family were going to address it, or even if they were. It was all so new and coming at a highly charged time as it was.
‘Don’t worry about Angeliki,’ Molly told her. ‘I think, now the service is over, she will be slightly more relaxed.’
‘The service isn’t over, sweetheart,’ Janette said. ‘ The Greek Dynamo has to sail out of the harbour and there’s going to be fireworks. I would have thought Christos would have told you.’
Molly looked over to the bar where it seemed that Christos was buying everybody drinks, knocking cans of Alfa together and making toasts to Vaggelis. She hadn’t had a moment to speak to him since the panegyri got into full swing. It had been traditional dancers, the brass band and local choirs, sticks of souvlaki and whole lambs rotating over hot coals, no time for conversation. But she knew they needed to talk, and about more than her share of Vaggelis’s estate. She had a boarding pass dated for two days’ time when she was supposed to be getting on a plane back to London…
‘They’re here! They are freaking here!’
It was Siobhan, ramming into Molly’s chair, a bag of meat sticks and bread in her hand, looking like she might be about to have a panic attack.
‘Siobhan!’ Janette exclaimed, her seat rocking too. ‘Be careful!’
‘Sorry! But, they’re here! I’ve seen him! And he knocks Mads Mikkelsen off the top DILF spot! Oh my God!’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Janette said, grabbing a serviette from the pile on the table and mopping up spilt wine.
‘I know what she’s talking about,’ Molly said. ‘Are Freya and Nicholas here at the panegyri ?’
‘Listen to you, talking about them like they’re old friends!’ Siobhan remarked. ‘Shiiit! I think they’re coming this way! They are! They’re coming over here! I think I’m going to be sick!’
Molly turned her head and there they were, the A-list Hollywood couple walking through the crowds who were paying all their attention to the band and the sirtaki dancing and no attention to these celebrities. She waved a hand before she could think better of it but then both Freya and Nicholas gave a wave back.
‘Isn’t that that actor?’ Janette exclaimed really loudly. ‘In that beautiful movie called Turncoat . Oh, he’s very handsome and?—’
‘Mum,’ Molly hissed. ‘I haven’t had time to tell you everything yet but… be cool about this.’
‘I’m not cool about this,’ Siobhan said, taking a piece of bread from her bag and fanning herself with it.
Molly got to her feet as they arrived.
‘Hey, Molly,’ Nicholas greeted, leaning in and kissing her on both cheeks.
‘Hi, how are you both?’ Molly said, giving Freya a kiss on both cheeks too.
‘Starving,’ Freya replied. ‘I hope they have lamb left because I want at least a whole kilo and the kids will go feral if we don’t bring some back.’
‘Freya, Nicholas, this is my mum, Janette, and this is my best friend, Siobhan, who has been instrumental in helping me get Mollify to where it is now.’
‘Hello,’ Siobhan squeaked like she had never talked in her life before.
‘It’s great to meet you both,’ Nicholas said, kisses on cheeks all round.
‘I think you’re a wonderful actor,’ Janette said, holding on to Nicholas’s hand a touch too long. ‘I was just saying to Molly?—’
‘And that’s enough of that,’ Freya said, extricating her husband. ‘Why do people keep giving him praise all the time? It won’t keep him humble and I need him to remember he’s my chef when the takeaway options aren’t all that.’
‘It’s all true,’ Nicholas answered. ‘And what even is an Academy award anyway?’
‘Well, sometimes I do hang my underwear on them, so they are good for something.’
Molly smiled. It was so obvious this couple adored each other. It was written all over their faces and laced through their repartee.
‘Actually,’ Freya said. ‘You can stay here and have a little chit-chat about your acting brilliance. I want to speak to Molly.’ She linked her arm through Molly’s. ‘Come on, you can help me get the lamb from Spiros. I have about thirty minutes before Emma and Yiannis get here.’
* * *
‘So,’ Freya said, lamb mission complete, a huge, wrapped stack of meat in a plastic bag hanging from her arm. ‘You must know what I’m going to say to you.’
‘Hold the lamb?’ Molly asked. ‘Get you wine that doesn’t taste like trees?’
Freya laughed. ‘You’ll be lucky to get wine that doesn’t taste like trees at a festival, and I’ve been to plenty. No, I am going to tell you that… I want to get on board with your brand. I want to be an ambassador for Mollify and I will help you any way I can to make it a success.’
‘What?!’ Molly exclaimed in shock. ‘But, I thought you would… need time to think it through or discuss it with someone or try the samples for longer or… I don’t know.’
‘Oh, Molly,’ Freya said, shaking her head. ‘You may have done your homework when it comes to what I love to eat but that’s not the only thing I do with my gut.’ She smiled. ‘I always trust my first instincts, not with products but with people. The products are good, but you, Molly, your vision for this and the reasons behind it, that’s great . You are going to inspire people to glow up by showing up, developing outward confidence with the make-up and building that inner confidence at the same time.’
Molly couldn’t keep the smile off her face. ‘I think I should be writing all that down.’
‘I mean it, Molly. I’ve been looking for something that would work alongside my fashion line and I really think this could be it. I mean, the only way it could be better is if we changed the name of the brand to “Daddy Issues”, but, you know, that might be taking it too far.’ Freya laughed. ‘The look on your face! Don’t worry, it’s Mollify, it’s a great name, it’s going to look great as a logo. Obviously we are going to need to negotiate all the legalities but, I’m in.’
‘Thank you,’ Molly said, swallowing a knot of emotion caught up in her throat. ‘For meeting a crazy woman on your doorstep and putting your faith in her.’
‘Listen, I’ve met crazy and that isn’t you. But, there is a condition to us making this deal together.’
Was this the big catch? Was Freya going to suggest something that was going to break this alignment already? She had already considered the monetary aspect, either a fee or a percentage of the company, but she needed time to do the figures…
‘O-K,’ she said warily.
‘So, we take this bread right here and we go and feed the fish with it. I come down here every morning I’m in Corfu, buy rolls from the bakery and my kids fight over who has the biggest pieces to throw in the water. They get that savageness from their dad.’ She smiled. ‘So, quiet fish-feeding, contemplation, being at one with the ocean. Can you do that with me?’
Molly nodded. ‘Absolutely. Let’s do it.’